1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a label to be applied to meat, with a surface material which is absorbent and with a front which can be printed or written upon.
2. Description of Related Art
Cattle, hogs and other animals for slaughter generally have a mark attached to the ear of the each animal on which certain information about the origin, age, breeder and optionally other information can be found. After the animals are slaughtered, it is necessary for documentary purposes to apply this information and other information to the cut pieces of meat. For this reason, at the time of slaughter, the veterinarian or butcher writes the required information on a label consisting solely of paper or a label completely coated with adhesive, and then presses it directly onto one spot on the meat. In doing so, the uncoated label forms a connection to the wet meat and adheres. A label completely coated with adhesive, on the other hand, adheres to dry spots, but does not adequately adhere to wet and greasy spots and can fall off.
The problem in the known process for application of the paper label is that the known label can only be removed again with difficulty after application and drying on the meat. If the known label remains for a longer time on wet meat, the paper softens, and also for this reason, can only be poorly removed. Generally, in an attempt to remove the known label from the meat, residue of the outline remains on the meat, which must then be cut off. This is not only labor-intensive and time-consuming, but also means a loss of meat. Another disadvantage of the known label of pure paper is that it cannot be glued to dry spots on the meat.
The object of this invention is therefore to make available a label for application to meat which is suitable for all applications and which can be both easily applied and also easily removed again.
This object is achieved as in accordance with the invention in that a label of the initially mentioned type is provided with a layer on the back of the top material, which can preferably be paper, this layer having at least one area with adhesive and at least one area without adhesive. The embodiment of the label according to the invention using at least one zone coated with adhesive and one zone without adhesive offers the advantage that the label of the invention can be applied both to wet and also dry spots on the meat since the area without adhesive adheres or sticks to wet spots on the meat, while the area coated with adhesive sticks to dry spots, for example, muscle meat.
In addition, the label in accordance with the present invention does not soften as quickly as the known paper label, if it has been applied to a wet piece of meat. The lower tendency of the inventive label is provided by the adhesive which is used as a type of protective layer for the paper of the paper layer on the spots on the label where it is applied to the paper layer. Finally, it has been ascertained that a label as according to the invention can be more easily detached or removed again from a piece of meat. This advantage ultimately arises from the fact that the entire paper layer does not stick or adhere to the meat in the label of the invention due to the different areas, regardless of the application, but only a partial area does so, the other partial area which does not stick can, accordingly, be easily removed. It should be pointed out here that the terms xe2x80x9cstickxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cadherexe2x80x9d are used interchangeably here.
Although it is fundamentally possible for the adhesive layer to have only one single area with adhesive and one single area without adhesive, it has been shown in tests that to ensure a reliable adhesive or cement connection, it is advantageous for the adhesive layer to have a plurality of areas with adhesive and likewise a plurality of areas without adhesive. In this connection, for reasons of production engineering it is a good idea if there are areas with adhesive and areas without adhesive in a regular pattern on the paper layer.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention which can be very easily implemented otherwise by production engineering, the areas with adhesive and the areas without adhesive are made strip-shaped and especially as chevron-shaped strips. To achieve good adhesive and sticking results, it is furthermore provided that the strips with areas with adhesive and the areas without adhesive are located next to one another and in alternation.
In tests which have been run, moreover, it has been ascertained that, to achieve good adhesive and sticking results in the labeling of meat, both of wet and greasy, and also dry zones of meat, it is advantageous to make the width of the strips of the areas with adhesive and the width of the areas without adhesive approximately the same. In doing so, it has been found that the width of the strips can be between 1 and 80 mm, but preferably between 10 and 30 mm.
For reasons of production engineering, it is a good idea for the paper to have a roughly rectangular shape, the strips then running lengthwise or transversely to the rectangular shape.
Especially an oil-proof or grease-proof paper which does not soften when applied to the meat or which does so only slowly is suited as the paper of the paper layer, while a food compatible dispersion cement or a solvent cement should be used as the adhesive for the special application of labeling meat.
Finally, the label in accordance with the invention, preferably, has a removable protective and carrying layer which is applied to the adhesive layer. The protective and carrying layer is used not only to protect the adhesive layer, but also as a carrier of the paper layer, in order to be able to transport and print the label according to the invention in a printer.
Other features will become apparent from the following description of embodiments using the drawings.